Bluetooth® connectivity is becoming more popular these days, as evidenced by two new products: the Panasonic KX-TH1211 and the XLink ITC-BTTN. Essentially they both wirelessly link your cell to your home phone, so when you walk in the door all of your cell phone calls start going to your home phone, courtesy of Bluetooth technology.

The Panasonic does this with a base unit and a handset giving you a sort of all-in-one package. The XLink uses a plug-in wall unit that routes your cell phone calls to your existing home phone setup.

Great features that make your life easier
The cool thing is that for either product, having a land line is optional. So if you’re the kind of person who only has a cell line, you can get the weight and convenience of a home handset without the additional cost of a land line. And if you’ve got both a cell and land line, then these products combine the two into a single phone system for your home.

These systems are great if you frequently forget to turn your cell phone off of vibrate mode when you walk in the front door (like me), or if you tend to lose your cell phone in your house. If you set up a Bluetooth phone system, you can simply leave your cell phone in one, easy-to-find location, and use your home phone handsets conveniently located in their docks. And if you only get cell phone reception in one area of your house, then you can leave your cell phone in that "hot spot" and still make calls through it anywhere in your house with a handset.

Another cool feature — these products work with more than one cell line. The Panasonic connects up to two cell phones and an optional land line, while the XLink connects up to three cell phones and an optional land line. So everyone in your house can take advantage of it. Both products even offer different ring tones, so you can tell which cellphone the call is coming through.

A few considerations
Even though the benefits are great, there are a few things you should keep in mind about the way these products currently work, and about the way that Bluetooth works in general.

Just having Bluetooth activated on your cell phone drains the battery faster, so it's a good idea to keep your cell phone plugged into its AC power cord while connected to one of these devices. Also keep in mind that these devices can’t boost your cell’s reception if you don’t get great reception at your house in the first place. They’re a good idea if your cell phone only works in your kitchen or living room, and you can leave your cell plugged into a wall socket. But if your cell’s hot spot is in the middle of your kitchen floor, then they won’t really help you.

Keep in mind that you're going to get some of the range (only about 30-feet) and connection issues associated with any Bluetooth device. For me, this translated to my Bluetooth unlinking and relinking at times, and to it occasionally dropping a call. Also, with these products you’re essentially making a "rest stop" between the source (your cell) and the destination (the home phone’s handset), so there might be some delay when you’re talking or making a call.

With either product, you’ll be using the menus on your home phone's handset, which means that you won’t be able to access options or even phone numbers in your cell phone using the handset. This may change in the future, but as of now if you need your cell’s phone book to make calls, you'll need to reprogram them into your home phone’s handset — or start memorizing your phone numbers again.

If you do decide to make the switch to one of these products — either the Panasonic KX-TH1211 or the XLink ITC-BTTN — keep some of the above considerations in mind. It will help you maintain realistic expectations of what these products, and of what Bluetooth technology in general, can and cannot do.